The Global Governance Institute in Geneva

The Global Governance Institute in Geneva

Faculty Leader: Dr. Gita Steiner-Khamsi, William H. Kilpatrick Professor of Comparative Education & Honorary UNESCO Chair of Comparative Education Policy

 

Course Description

The Global Governance Institute in Geneva is a TC-wide course offered with TC's Office of Global Engagement and the Geneva Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies. The Geneva Graduate Institute hosts the UNESCO Chair Program in Comparative Education Policy, held jointly by Professors Gita Steiner-Khamsi (TC) and Chanwoong Baek (Geneva Graduate Institute).

Geneva is where international cooperation began: the League of Nations, the world's first international organization, was founded there in 1920, and the city is the birthplace of humanitarian aid through the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. Today, International Geneva is home to 45 international organizations, more than 100 international NGOs and 185 permanent missions to the UN, along with many foundations and philanthropies. The Palais des Nations, the UN's European headquarters, is a 10-minute walk from the Geneva Graduate Institute.

TC and Geneva Graduate Institute students learn together through a co-taught seminar with mixed group work, small-group meetings with international organizations, joint visits, and an inter-university research conference where students can present their own research.

 

Course Objectives

  • Understand the possibilities and limits of international organizations' influence on national policy and planning decisions.
  • Network with international organizations.
  • Gain insight into the daily work of international organizations.
  • Interact with faculty and graduate students in global governance and comparative policy studies at the Geneva Graduate Institute, culminating in a half-day inter-university student research conference.

 

Course Topics

  • The UN system and multilateralism
  • Philanthropy, private foundations and NGOs in education, health, environment and technology
  • Education in emergencies
  • Bilateral cooperation, Switzerland and International Geneva
  • UNESCO, peace and international understanding

 

Anticipated Stakeholder Engagement

  • Geneva Graduate Institute
  • United Nations Headquarters (Palais des Nations)
  • Aga Khan Foundation
  • Private foundations and NGOs
  • UNICEF, Education Cannot Wait, the Geneva International Hub for Education in Emergencies and INEE
  • UNHCR, ILO and WHO
  • Permanent Missions to the UN
  • Fédération genevoise de coopération (FGC)
  • UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
  • World Economic Forum
  • UNESCO International Bureau of Education (IBE)
  • Cultural program

 

Good to know: formal attire is required for most visits to international organizations.

 

 

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